Russia Uses Info on Daesh Illegal Oil Trade to Fight Terrorists, Not Turkey

Information Russia has on Turkey’s alleged purchases of oil from Daesh will be used in the fight against terrorism, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.

Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would resign if it was proven that he was involved in the illegal acquisition of oil delivered from the terrorist group.

“This is not a new statement by any means. The most important is to have this information and use it in work that is focused not on proving something, but on the fight against terrorism,” Peskov told reporters, adding that the “information is being used in the fight against terrorism.”  

Discussing the matter with world leaders during the Paris climate talks, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow has evidence that the Su-24 was shot down by Turkey to protect oil deliveries of the ISIL terrorist group, also known as Daesh, and that oil from Daesh-controlled fields is being exported to Turkey on an industrial scale.

"We have every reason to believe that the decision to shoot down our aircraft was dictated by the desire to ensure the safety of supply routes of oil to Turkey, to the ports where they are shipped in tankers," Putin said.

Military channels between Russia and Turkey failed because Ankara never intended to use them, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.

"These channels did not work, not because Russia was at fault…Circumstances indicate that no one was going to use the existing channels," Peskov told reporters.

Earlier on Tuesday, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called on Russia to set up military communication channels to avoid similar incidents, including the recent downing of a Russian jet by Ankara.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov announced last Thursday that all military contacts with Turkey, including a hotline previously created between the nations to avoid air incidents in the ongoing Syrian airstrikes, would be cut. The announcement came two days after a Turkish F-16 fighter shot down a Russian Su-24 Fencer bomber over Syrian territory.